Lauren Nietschke

Lauren Nietschke

Fellow

Current Country

Australia 🇦🇺

Current City

The Barossa Valley - Home!

What have you been going through and experiencing?

I’ve been coming to terms with the cyclical nature of beginnings and endings. Summer is over, I’m leaving in 2 days, and my friends from my hometown are all leaving where we grew up. The mulberry season is over, but peaches are ripe, and fresh figs fill our fridge!

March 1, 2026

Intuition

Cultivating inner knowing

A question currently animating me about the inner life/spirit is:

How does my body respond to beginnings and endings? Internally and externally?

March 1, 2026

A question currently animating me about the outer world/universe/multiverse is:

How can we imagine home beyond its traditional definition of a place where one lives?

March 1, 2026

The practices I’m finding most helpful at the moment are:

Rest

March 1, 2026

A moment I noticed my inner light kindled this month was:

Spending time with my grandpa! He was recently diagnosed with cancer and has been quite weak, so when I’m not working I’ve been helping him out around his house. When cleaning through his attic, we came across photos of him at 18, and it was entertaining hearing all his stories!

March 1, 2026

A moment I noticed my inner light dwindled this month was:

Realising that I’m leaving my family in the coming days. Usually I don’t consider myself someone who gets very homesick, but this time around I feel uneasy (but still excited!) as I think about saying goodbye to my loved ones .

March 1, 2026

Courage

Aligning action

Assumptions I'm examining right now are:

Other

March 1, 2026

I originally assumed:

Deep ancestral connection is relative to a shared understanding of home and place.

March 1, 2026

These assumptions are changing:

My connection to both sides of my lineage are not defined by place. Rather, it’s through respect and mutual understanding for what has come before us, and how our ancestors have shared our lives today.

March 1, 2026

A moment I stepped out of my comfort zone this month was:

Making a new friend! Whenever I return to my hometown, I always a recurrent goal to make a new friend. That friend came in the form of a girl called Eva, who I met through mutual friends! It’s super cool that my friendship ‘roots’ have expanded.

March 1, 2026

Compassion

Engaged Empathy

Something that is helping me build trusting relationships here is:

Stepping out of our comfort zones and taking a leap of friendship faith!

March 1, 2026

Digital Detox Retreat

Number of days I've gone without technology

Number of days I've gone without technology

22

Being intentionally away from technology and distractions has taught me:

How fulfilled my life is when I’m in the mountains, rivers, and trees. The sensation of inner being and connection to the sacred when I’m present with Mother Earth.

October 30, 2025

Gratitude

Peers I'm grateful for:

Meirav Roisman

AHHH thank you so much for our beautiful chat the other day. Genuinely you’re such a cool person, and I cannot wait to see our friendship flourish <33

March 1, 2026

Mariana Mejía Luis Juan

Thank you for sharing your beautiful animation metaphor. I thought it was very poignant and heartfelt, and I felt as though I could relate to it a lot. It was also lovely connecting with you once again!

January 31, 2026

Naomi Løvstad Wettstein

Thank you for our continuing friendship, and always being there to talk, its so lovely learning about your journey in Patagonia <33

December 31, 2025

Kashimani Simasiku

Thank you for your unique perspectives, I love whenever we chat!

December 1, 2025

Kashimani Simasiku

Hey Kash, I am really glad we got to chat last Friday during our one on one chat. It was so lovely getting to know you, and I can’t wait to see how our relationship flourishes!

October 30, 2025

Naomi Løvstad Wettstein

Thank you for our call last week. Even though we haven’t met one another yet, I cannot wait to see our friendship flourish and see where our adventures in the near future will take us <33

September 29, 2025

Douglas Teixeira de Queiroz Santos

Doug! It has been absolutely wonderful being able to get to know you more. Our conversations throughout the past couple of weeks have been so enriching and have really made me think more introspectively about my life, the world, and travel in general <3

September 3, 2025

Catalina Cox

Thank you for your support with helping me navigate timezones! From helping me throughout the UWC app process to even now over 3 yrs later I'm really so grateful for everything you have supported me with <3

July 28, 2025

Peers who have expressed gratitude for me:

Lexi Bennett-Williams

Thank you (to you and Naomi) for leading such a lovely session, I really enjoy discussing this topic!! Also thank you for a lovely meet up, what so comforting to see a familiar face!

November 6, 2025

Naomi Løvstad Wettstein

This wavelength we are riding on, has had me on a high. Being in such similar shoes has allowed for seeds to be planted here. I can’t wait to watch our relationship grow. I look forward to more conversations with you and continuation of these awesome waves. Thank you Lauren!

September 30, 2025

Lydia Belz

reaching out to me when the flight school first started. It helped me to feel more like I was joining a community.

August 5, 2025

Magical Moments

Light-kindling moments

Light-kindling moments

Magic.

Barossa Valley

Mar 28, 2025

A bittersweet goodbye to the end of summer.

Flamingos in the Andes!

Salar de Uyuni

Sep 27, 2025

Feeling welcomed by the world around me. 4500m above sea level, only myself and my travel companions were at this lake. Without access to wifi (or the world at large!) I felt truly present in the space I was existing in—both physically (the earth and mountains had let me inhibit this space) and mentally (I was at peace, without the buzz of the world beyond).